Russia and Ukraine traded major attacks overnight, authorities from both countries said on Thursday, shortly after US envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
Missiles struck Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, wounding at least 15 people, eight of whom have been hospitalized, city authorities said.
The subway infrastructure on the Southern Bridge over the Dnipro river in Kyiv was also damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
“Overnight, Kyiv residents heard what Russian “humanism” truly sounds like: a brutal attack with dozens of ballistic missiles striking energy infrastructure, medical facilities, shopping centers, and residential Areas,” Ukrainian foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media.
His post referred to Witkoff recently calling Putin a “humanitarian” for freeing US citizen Stephen Hubbard on Wednesday. Hubbard had been captured by Russian forces and jailed over charges of being a mercenary.
Another Russian strike killed a woman and injured four others in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. A drone also hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the Poltava region, local authorities said without providing more details.
Meanwhile, Moscow’s mayor said that 630 drones were launched towards the region overnight, wounding at least two people.
“Most of them were destroyed by air defense systems,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on social media. Of these, 163 drones had been approaching the capital city, he added.
In western Russia’s Lipetsk city, a man was injured as drones hit apartment buildings and a medical facility, Governor Igor Artamonov said on Telegram.
Strikes after US attempts mediation
The latest round of strikes came after US special envoy Witkoff held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway earlier this week, followed by talks with Putin in Russia on Wednesday.
The Trump administration has attempted to mediate between the two sides to end the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Putin agreed “in principle” to resume US-mediated peace talks with Kyiv as soon as next month. Zelenskyy, too, said on Wednesday that Ukraine supported a US proposal for trilateral talks at the negotiators level to be held as soon as possible.
It was “the closest we’ve been” to ending the war, US President Donald Trump claimed after Witkoff’s meeting with Putin. However, that did not stop the neighboring nations from keeping up a barrage of attacks.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
Don’t let the algorithm hide the news. If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google by clicking here and hitting the “star” or “preferred” button, so you’ll always see our verified news first.
